Every interaction they shared had another level—something deeper.
Sensing that this wasn’t the moment to explore that further, Dino looked at the dog stretched out in front of the range cooker, enjoying the warmth. ‘Is Rambo trained to search in snow?’
‘Yes. Whenever we have snow we do extra training because obviously there aren’t that many opportunities around here. But it’s a different skill. A search dog is trained to find the person, bark, and then return to the handler. They carry on doing that until they’ve drawn the handler to the body.’ She bent down and stroked Rambo’s head, making a fuss of him. ‘When they’re working in snow they have to stay with the scent and dig. He’s good at it.’
‘How long have you had him?’ Dino crouched down to stroke the dog too and Meg immediately pulled her hand away.
‘He was my eighteenth birthday present from my parents. I was already involved with the mountain rescue team. I used to help out manning the base and I worked as a volunteer body. That means losing yourself on a mountain so that the dogs can practise finding you. Then, when I had Rambo, I trained him. It took longer than usual because halfway through I discovered I was pregnant and that—well, let’s just say that complicated things.’
He wanted to ask her how, but he was afraid of triggering the same response he’d seen a few days earlier when he’d asked if Jamie’s father was still on the scene. ‘So you moved into this cottage?’
‘My dad died the same year I had Jamie.’ She pulled a face. ‘It was a truly terrible year. I lived with Mum for a while, it worked better that way. We were both on our own and somehow we got through it together. Then she suggested I move into Lake Cottage. I’d always loved it and it’s only half a mile from her house so it’s perfect. If I’m called out in the night on a rescue I just drop Jamie with her, or she comes over here. I’m lucky. How about you? How did you get involved with mountain rescue?’
‘When I stopped competitive skiing, I started off working as a ski guide to earn money before I went to university. Then I did mountain rescue.’ He wanted to ask whether she’d been on her own right from the start. Whether Jamie’s father had walked out before he was born. Had she married the guy?
‘How did you end up in Englan
d?’
He’d been escaping. ‘I wanted a change. Do I smell pizza?’
Meg gasped and grabbed a cloth. ‘Jamie will kill me if I’ve burnt them.’ She pulled them out of the oven and Dino smiled as he looked at the bubbling cheese and perfectly cooked crust.
‘I thought you told me you were a lousy cook.’
‘I am normally. You were the one who reminded me to get them out of the oven before they were burnt to a cinder.’ She cut the pizzas into slices. ‘Jamie! It’s ready!’
They ate pizza together and he watched as she listened attentively to Jamie’s questions and answered them. She was interested in her child, he thought, and that gave the boy confidence. He tried to remember a time when his mother had given him that much of her time, but failed. Families were all different, but this—this was the way he would have wanted his to be.
After the pizza had been cleared away and Jamie had gone to get ready for bed, Dino decided that this was the right time to ask the question he’d been waiting to ask. ‘I have two tickets to the Christmas ball.’
Her shoulders tensed. ‘Good for you. I hope you have a nice time.’
‘I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock.’
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did her entire face changed. The tension that had been simmering below the surface bubbled up. ‘Me? No way. I don’t go to that sort of thing.’
‘Why not?’
‘For a start, I don’t dance.’
‘Pathetic excuse.’
‘That was just one. I have loads more. I can give you a list.’
‘And I’m not going to be impressed by any of them.’ Dino wondered why it was such a big deal to her. Judging from the expression on her face, he might have just asked her to have his babies.
Was it him? he wondered. Or men in general?
‘The ball is next Saturday,’ he said calmly, ‘at the Winter Hill Hotel and Spa.’
‘I know when it is and I’ve already told you I can’t make it.’ She stacked the dirty plates and took them over to the dishwasher. ‘But thanks for inviting me. That was kind.’
‘Kind?’ Dino put his glass down slowly. ‘Is that what you think? That I’m being kind?’
‘I’m not thinking at all.’ There was a note of panic in her voice as she clattered plates. ‘There’s no need to think and analyse because I’m not going. Take someone else. I’m sure there’s a whole queue of women just desperate to go with you.’ One of the plates slipped through her fingers and smashed on the floor. Muttering under her breath, she swept up the bits and disposed of them.
Dino stood up to help her but she glared at him. ‘I’m fine—I can sweep up my own mess, Dino.’